Perseverance - Resourcefulness - Resilience

The following is a list of the post titles by author under this topic. Scroll further down this page to find the actual blog post by your selected author. Author’s posts appear in reverse alphabetical order. For example, following this list, Fred Wilson’s post appears towards the beginning of the blog page, and Jeffrey Bussgang’s post appears towards the end of the blog page.

Fred Wilson venture capitalist and Co-Founder Union Square Ventures

Wilson believes the concept of sustainability needs greater consideration today in business as “[] the focus on performance and efficiency often comes at the cost of sustainability.

[] sustainability is all about figuring out how to be in business forever. It is about [:] [win/win] business models that [] lead to happy long term customer and supplier relationships [;] [] avoiding the temptation to overreach [] [and] maximize near term profits at the expense of long term health [;] [] adapting [] to changing market dynamics [;] [] building a team and a culture that can survive the loss of the leader and keep going[;] [and] [] many more things like this.” Fred Wilson, Sustainability, Nov. 21, 2011 http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/11/sustainability.html

Andy Weissman venture capitalist and Partner Union Square Ventures

“These things often times look like overnight successes but they never are. About a year ago I was at a conference and Dennis Crowley the founder of Foursquare was at the conference and Foursquare at the time was maybe two years old. And someone [] [asked] Dennis [] how does it feel to be [] an overnight success [] [with] millions of users []. And Dennis said actually [he’s] been working on it for 15 years, and 13 of those were failures before [he] got to the last 2 years, so it hasn’t been an overnight success.” Andy Weissman , #startupstories: Failure @ .10 min into video, Published on Sep 10, 2012 ; NewYorkTech Meetup #Startup stories , http://nytm.org/resources/startupstories;

David Tisch angel investor, Managing Partner The Box Group and Co-Founder TechStars NYC

“You are constantly failing as a startup. It’s how quickly you rebound from that failure that might lead to success.” David Tisch, #startupstories: Failure @ 1.3 min into video, Published on Sep 10, 2012 ; NewYorkTech Meetup #Startup stories , http://nytm.org/resources/startupstories;

“[Entrepreneurs’] ability to [hustle] well can comprise a competitive advantage. Entrepreneurs, forever operating with constraints, are the kings and queens of hustle []”. You can’t study in a textbook the “[] entrepreneurial opportunity-generating strategy of [] hustle.”

The founders of Airbnb a short-term property rental marketplace hustled to raise cash by selling cereal, while determining how to scale the business. “[Investors were impressed with their resourcefulness, enabling them] to raise outside financing, including a Series A investment [Hoffman led at Greylock].”

When Internet radio service Pandora’s business model was threatened with federally-mandated unsustainable cost increases, it organized a lobbying campaign in Congress to buy time to renegotiate royalty payments. Despite almost 10 years of “lawsuits, unfavorable legislation and [bankruptcy threat], [] resilience [] kept them [alive].” Pandora eventually raised additional Greylock-led financing and completed an IPO in 2011.

“Both [Airbnb and Pandora] were [] at one point operating with severe resource constraints, [lacking] money,[] know-how, [] connections, [] employees, advisors [and] partners.[] When you have no resources, you create them. [] Caterina Fake the co- founder of Flickr says that the “less money you have, the fewer people and resources you have, the more creative you have to become”. Get resourceful or die.” Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha; The Start-up of You book (pg 162-167)

Rob Hayes Partner First Round Capital

Hayes says that a common trait for entrepreneurs to succeed is that “they stay the course even through the rough times. [] They tend to be very optimistic and very confident but also they’re not afraid to talk about what they don’t know.[] [They’re] resourceful.” Rob Hayes This Week in Start Ups #249, @ 53-57 min. Published Apr 18, 2012; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEPqy0ad0BU

Jason Calacanis entrepreneur and angel investor discussing Elon Musk

Calacanis discussed the difficulties and failures that Elon Musk CEO Tesla and Space X, had over the years with Space X prior to its successful spacecraft launch.

“[] the lesson here is resiliency. Because nothing great doesn’t come without a lot of failure, a lot of heartache, a lot of pain. That is the lesson of entrepreneurship for me.” Jason Calacanis TWiST (This Week in Startups) #262 News Panel with David Carter and James Altucher @ 1.09 hr. into interview, Published Jun 2, 2012 ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FkbLGguOmk

Jeffrey Bussgang venture capitalist and General Partner Flybridge Capital Partners and former entrepreneur

In describing what drives an entrepreneur, Bussgang says that “it comes down to an essential character trait []: the entrepreneurial itch. When you have it, you just have to scratch it. You really can’t help yourself.

Being an entrepreneur may be something deep in the genes. []

Genetic or not, there are certain classic characteristics of the entrepreneur. The most important of these are a certain kind of visionary optimism; tremendous confidence in oneself that can inspire confidence in others; huge passion for an idea or phenomenon that drives them forward; and a desire to change the game, so much so that it changes the world.” Jeffrey Bussgang, book Mastering the VC Game –A Venture Capital Insider Reveals How to get from Start-up to IPO on your Terms. copyright 2010, pg 14